Dancing With The Shadows
by FrailBreeze
Summary: This is about a girl and how her parent's die, and she is left with her brother, and a boy that apprea's out of nowhere? Who is the young Boy? He looks like her? Why is he Their? Why is Everyoen after them?


With my legs propped up on the table and my eyes glued to my book, I'm rather comfortable. Just another Saturday night in late August and only a few more weeks left of summer vacation before I'm sent off to the private school once again. I'm going to miss these peaceful nights, no matter how boring they may seem. I don't really enjoy coming back home for the summer, since that really is just an excuse for my parents to go off and party somewhere with other rich folk and leave me to babysit my younger brother, Antonio. Speaking of my brother, he sits next to me and is reading a book as well, except it's a comic book and not a novel like mine. Something about Batman and the Joker, I don't know, I'm not much of a comic book reader. I don't really expect Antonio to be into novels as well yet, since he's only seven years old and me being ten years older than him; I am more of a skilled reader. I don't like to admit it, but he may be the only reason I come home every summer. They always give us an option at Creek Wood, the private school, to stay in our dorms or go home. I choose to go home not to see my parents, but to see Antonio. All brothers are annoying, but Antonio may be the least annoying person I know. Sure, there are those sprouts of random comments that spark a fight, but that's rare between us. He looks like a piece of caramel to me. He has caramel hair that match his eyes and his skin is tan, since I take him to the beach a lot. Average size for his age, and a little slow to realize things, but is sugary and makes your tummy swirl whenever you see him. I check the time on the clock on the wall across from me: Seven thirty, not even close to what time they usually get back. Mom and dad decided that they would go out with the Pine's, since our families are such good friends. They claim to discuss business related things, but I know that all they do is eat and chat about who knows what. Since my father is such a known person, wherever he goes, everyone practically kisses his feet. Being the head of Stavros Weaponry makes him a feared man, so no one messes with him. My family is a big weapons dealership located practically worldwide in every country. We bathe in our money every night, show it off to the public and do illegal trading, but no one seems to care since we basically give countries their war weapons. And guess who the heiress to all this glory is? That's right, me. Felicity Grey Stavros, oldest child in the family and to-be owner of the world's biggest weapons company. Yay.

A knock sounds at the door, jolting me back to reality. I lift my eyes from my book which I have been mindlessly reading and look towards Antonio, who seems to have heard the knock as well. He looks at me with big, curious eyes and tilts his head to the side. I give him a shrug and mark my place in the book before closing it. I stand and stretch before striding towards the velvet door (which is ugly, believe me). I peak through the little hole on the door and narrow my eyes when I see a police officer standing at the doorway. He seems to be scared, his eyes looking around as if someone was going to come out and shoot him. I unlock the door and open the door, raising en eyebrow at him. He flinches as I do so and quickly takes off his hat. He's plump, seeming to be the typical cop, eating too many doughnuts and ignoring the city crime. "Can I help you?" I ask, not bothering to hide the annoyance in my voice. The cop stiffens as he begins to speak in a stutter. "W-well Miss Stavros, I-I came here with some dire news… May I-I come in?" The cop stared at me with wide eyes, like I was going to plunge a knife into his heart and throw his body into the river. Well, at least to me that's what the look looks like to me. I shrug and open the door wide; curious about what he has to say. He wobbles in and I close the door behind him, already making my way towards the couch where Antonio has now put his book down next to mine and is staring at the cop. "Take a seat. What's the news?" I ask as I sit back down in my previous spot, but this time closer to Antonio. The cop stands for a few seconds then sits in a love seat close to the couch. He begins to fiddle with his hat and coughs for a second before looking up at us. "It's about your parents." His voice is suddenly firm which surprises, but not as much as it does when he says the news is about mom and dad. Beside me, Antonio snatches my hand so that he's holding it. I give his hand a squeeze before looking at the cop. "What about them?" I ask, and he clears his throat and stands, eyeing Antonio, and then looking back at me. I understand immediately, which scares me, and I pull my hand away from his. Giving his hair a little tousle, I smile at him. "Antonio, why don't you read while I talk to the nice officer?" Antonio only nods his head and picks up the book without question, already getting back into it. I stand and motion to go into the kitchen and the cop follows. When were in, I turn around to face him and cross my arms, waiting. "Your parents died in a car crash on their way to their destination. I'm sorry."

The news doesn't hurt me as much as it should, but most of the pain there is for Antonio. If their dead… What will become of him? Will he go off to a foster home or will I still be able to keep him? Questions flood through my mind that I don't realize that the cop has disappeared from the kitchen and a piercing scream coming from the living room that is soon cut short. I bolt towards the opening and gasp at what I see. Standing in my living room is a man wearing a ski-mask and a green trench coat. He stares at me and seems to be panting, but that's not what fuels my anger. The fact that this man has a knife against Antonio's throat and a hand clasped over the boys mouth really makes me want to strangle him. Antonio's eyes are wide and full of fear and its then do I realize the cop dead on the floor and the fact that I forgot to lock the door. Before I can do anything, the man laughs and I flash my eyes towards him, putting every last bit of anger in the stare. "You know, I never thought it would be that easy to break into the Stavros family house. Guess all I needed was an accident waiting to happen, or maybe a miracle. Your parents' death was just the key I needed." His voice is stern but it also has a bit of sympathy in it, which surprises me. "Now Felicity, care to show me the vault of where you keep your money, or shall I dig the knife deeper into the poor boys throat?" "Would you like me to give you a tour of the house as well?" I ask in a mocking tone, fluttering my eyelashes for effect. I don't know why I do it, but it's a self-defense thing. I pretend I'm not scared by using sarcasm, and this time, it seems to be working. The man grunts and lets out another laugh. "Funny one, aren't you? No, I think I'll just go for the money and be on my merry way." Lies, that's what he says. Of course he's going to kill Antonio and I, since I watch a lot of criminal shows, the criminal always ends up killing the people he claims he won't kill. Well, most of them anyway, but there's no way this guy is going to let either of us win.

I mock a bow and point my hands up the stairs, giving the man a smile. "Right this way. Please keep from killing my brother until we reach the vault. Thank you and enjoy the tour." This rewards me with a booming laugh as he throws his head back. After a few seconds of his laughing, he sighs and smiles at me. "Ah, I may not kill you after that. Now, let's get moving." I simply shrug for no reason and make my way up the stairs, my mind buzzing. There's a gun near my room behind the potted plant, but the vault isn't that way. Why we even keep a vault in the house is beyond me, but it was my father's idea, so there is no way I could argue and keep my life. My best option is hand to hand combat, but I don't think I can get very far without the man decapitating Antonio, so basically I have to do what he wants and pray that he lets the two of us live.

I lead him down the hallway towards the vault, wanting to badly to turn around and punch him, but I know that if I do so Antonio may be killed. I clench my fists at the thought and close my eyes tightly. After a few seconds of breathing, I let my hands relax and my eyes open once again. I reach the end of the hall where there is a bathroom and turn around towards the man, crossing my arms. "We're here." I chime in a sing-song voice, my voice going an octave higher than it normally would. The man frowns and looks around, the knife still at Antonio's throat and the poor boys eyes wide like a deer's when it's caught in a car headlight. "I don't see any vault. Where is it?" He says slowly, turning his attention back to me, his blue eyes burning into my oddly colored lavender ones. I flick my wrist towards a painting on the wall beside me. Quite big it is, being a portrait of my father in his early years before he met my mother. I turn full towards the painting and slowly take it off, revealing a black safe inside the wall, average in size. I lay the painting neatly on the ground and stare at the vault. What was the code…? I type in some numbers and a light flashes green. There's a click and I open the door, stepping to the side to reveal stacks of green inside.

A plan forms in my mind and I cross my arms, as if waiting. If he comes close enough, I may be able to tackle him, take the knife, and kill him. And if that doesn't work, then I'll simply hit him on the head with the picture. And if neither of those work, well, I'm dead as is Antonio. It's a chance I'm willing to take. As suspected, the man walks towards the cash, totally in a daze I could have swiped the knife from him and he wouldn't have even noticed, but he's still too far away, and if I lunge now, he is sure to kill Antonio. Antonio looks at me, his eyes wide and beginning to sparkle. A lump forms in my throat as I watch streams of tears fall from his caramel pools. I have to look away and focus on the man, not wanting to cry myself for letting myself be so stupid. I push the wave of guilt from my mind and focus on the plan at hand. The man is only four steps away and I fear he can hear my heart pounding in my chest. Three steps... I slowly shift into a position where I can jump, lowering my arms from where they were crossed across my chest. Two steps… I take in a deep breath through my nose, preparing myself. Now! I pounce, seizing the moment perfectly as the man falters for a second, realizing what I am doing. He goes to cut Antonio, but that second he hesitated was a mistake. I clout the knife from his grip and listen as it flies down the hallway and stops right by the stairs. I don't hesitate, pushing Antonio away roughly, landing on top of the man practically screaming bloody murder. Pain shoots through my stomach and I let out a yell as the man pushes me off of him. I land on my back with and watch as he scrambles up and towards the knife. I get on my knees and lunge towards his legs, face planting him into the floor. I dig my nails into his legs (thank goodness for nail filers) and listen to the agonizing scream that erupts. His foot kicks me in the face and I cry out, tasting the warmth of my own blood, but I don't let go. I soon see blood coming from his legs but the foot makes a comeback and slams into my temple. A cry barely escapes my mouth as I release his legs, collapsing on the ground. I clutch my head, feeling my blood soak into my hair, covering the skin of my hands. I let out a gasp as my hair is pulled down and a knife appears in front of my face. The man had gone for the knife, of course, and now had a murderous look in his eyes. "Should have killed you when you opened the safe." He spits, splattering his saliva on my face, but I barley feel it since my vision is getting blurry and the throbbing pain in my head increases drastically. He says some more things but it all just sounds like gibberish, which I don't speak. I feel something prick my neck and I know I don't have long left to live. All I can hope is that Antonio escaped and is looking for help. The simple prick of the knife pierces my skin and I let out a cry. The man grins and says something as he slowly makes it go farther in, but I'm not looking at him anymore. I'm looking at the thing behind him, which seemed to have emerged from the void, but the thing that scares me more is that it looks exactly like me, only male. My eyes drift shut, seeing only the face of my killer and some weird boy behind him, but the last thing I hear before the darkness takes me over is a piercing scream that even the dead can hear.


End file.
